A/N: Happy Pokeshipping Week everyone!

Chapter Nine: Tensions Rising

They got back to the house to discover the smell of bacon and eggs wafting in the air. Misty kicked off her shoes in the entryway before proceeding to the kitchen. Ash mirrored her movements, also removing his sneakers before following her down the hallway and into the kitchen. They walked into the room to find Brock stationed in front of the stove, his back turned to her sisters who were all sitting at the table, which had been extended in anticipation of their arrival. They were happily chatting, their mugs filled to the brim with coffee.

They all turned at the sound of their footsteps. The laughter died instantly at the sight of them. The room was silent except for the sizzling of several pans on the stove. Daisy stared at them with wide eyes. Brock nearly dropped the carton of eggs he had been about to return to the fridge. Lily and Violet shifted uncomfortably in their seats as Brock and Daisy continued to gape at them. No one noticed Pikachu in front of the counter, trying to reach the bottle of ketchup. Judging by everyone's reaction, clearly neither Violet nor Lily had said anything to the other two. Of course.

"Good morning," Misty said her voice shifting up an octave, hands shaking. "Look who decided to join us for breakfast."

Ash sheepishly waved back at the others, but no one made an effort to return the greeting. They looked at each other, unsure of what to say. After a moment, Brock was the first to speak.

"Breakfast?"

"You know," Misty replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "That thing you have after sleeping. It usually involves pancakes and stuff."

Ash snorted at her comment, but hastily turned it into a sort of cough.

"Anyway…Brock," Misty said, trying to divert the subject away from Ash's presence. "You're cooking breakfast? I was going to do that."

"Yeah, but you weren't back yet, and your guests were getting hungry," he replied, flipping a pancake with a teal spatula.

"And this doesn't have anything to do with you trying to impress them, does it?"

"Umm…"

"Mmmhmm."

The room fell into another uneasy silence. Misty sat down next to Daisy at the table and started to pour a glass of orange juice. Ash, hesitating, took the seat at the far end of the table, away from Misty. His attention shifted to Pikachu, who was still trying to retrieve the ketchup. Shaking his head, he got up, walked over to the counter, and grabbed the bottle. With a small glance at Misty, who didn't notice him, he handed the bottle to Pikachu. He sighed as the Pokemon flipped open the cap and began lapping at the condiment.

Misty sipped her juice slowly. This was not how she wanted things to go. What was she going to do? This was turning out to be a complete disaster, so to speak. She looked over at Ash for a second. He was talking to Brock when he caught her eye. He peered back at her, giving her a warm grin. She averted her gaze back down to the table, her cheeks burning. Daisy leaned over to her.

"What is he doing here?" Daisy hissed in her ear.

"Well. I kind of accidentally invited him," she muttered, not taking her eyes off the table.

"Misty!"

"I know. I know. It was an accident. I was drunk. I can't help it if he took it seriously."

"Rudy is going to kill you."

"Too late for that."

Daisy opened her mouth to speak, but shut it quickly as Brock rested a large serving plate full of a variety of pancakes – blueberry, chocolate chip, and buttermilk, to name a few. A few seconds later, Ash and Brock placed the rest of breakfast on the table, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, and home fries. There was already a large bowl of fruit salad on the table, next to the can of whipped cream. Ash sat back down and started piling his plate.

"So, Ash," Daisy said as she stabbed a pancake with her fork, lifting and dropping it back down to her own plate. "How long are you going to be gracing us with your presence?"

"Uhh," he replied, ignoring the tension that he picked up from her voice. "I was going to stay for the wedding. I mean I probably will head back home that night, I would think?"

"You can come back with me if you want," Brock said. "I'm leaving the morning after."

"That would be great!" he exclaimed. "Thanks, Brock!"

Daisy was not yet satisfied with her interrogation. "Do you know where you're like staying?"

"I wanted to find somewhere to camp out, but Misty wouldn't hear of it."

Misty flushed an even deeper shade of red. "I don't want you smelling when you show up for my wedding."

"I would still have taken a shower."

"I wouldn't be sure about that."

"Anyway," Daisy interjected. "So, are you spending the day with us, then? We are going to be going around the island, talking wedding details and such. You sure that you're going to be up for that?"

Ash gawked at her. What was with all of the questions? What was the point of this? He had experienced quite a few interrogations that were much less demanding and intrusive. Daisy could have given the paparazzi in Kanto a run for their money.

"Yeah," he replied. "That's fine."

He shot Misty a look of desperation. Why was her sister giving him the third degree? What was her problem? Misty said nothing, shrugging her shoulders. Ash's heart sunk. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be spending much time with the girl that for some reason made his heart skip beats and put butterflies in his stomach. She's getting married, he reminded himself.

Ash groaned as they continued to traverse through a patch of tropical forest. He knew that it was the quickest way back to the gym, but this was ridiculous. Why did she have to get married on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean on the other side of the island? Why couldn't they have taken a boat or a car or something. They were having the reception itself at a hall in the small village down the road from the gym, but they were going to be taking boats down the river then. So why couldn't they have done that now?

Misty had given him some lame excuse that almost all of those boats were going to be rented for the ceremony, and with the few that they did have, they needed to conserve the gas in them. It would be fantastic if one of them ran out of gas on the way to the reception. Ash didn't entirely believe this. He was almost certain that Misty and her sisters were determined to torture him.

Brock was also with them as well, though he didn't seem as miserable as Ash was. He was too busy paying attention to Misty's sisters to feel anything else. He was on an island -the only one who wasn't exactly keen about this whole wedding thing.

It wasn't that he loathed the idea of huge extravagant weddings. Well, actually, he did, but that was beside the point. It was more of the fact that this was Misty's wedding-her wedding to Rudy, for one thing. It was eating away at him, consuming his every thought. Desperately, he wanted to talk to Brock about this-to figure it all out. But how could he? He was surrounded by all the women by whom he did not wish to be overheard. He would have to find some time to talk to him in private, but when could he do it?

They reached the end of the forest, coming out to a wide clearing that led to the back of the Trovita gym. Misty and her sisters were leading the group across the grass and toward the gym. Ash watched as Misty chatted away with Lily about the location. She paused to stretch, flexing her back muscles and rotating neck. Catching him looking in the corner of her eye, she turned her neck to look back at Ash. When she had done so, he was already looking away, seemingly interesting in some Pokemon that he had seen on the edge of the clearing. She could have been wrong, but she could have sworn that she had caught him staring at him.

His cheeks continued to burn as he continued to sense her gaze upon his skin. Why was she doing this to him? She was Misty! She was his childhood friend. She shouldn't be having this effect on him. Although…she was different now. He couldn't help but noticed the longer hair, wider hips, and high cheek bones. Her aqua eyes had this way of pulling him into the rest of her heart-shaped face.

He stole a glance at her. Relief washed over him as he realized that she was no longer looking in his direction. His shoulders relaxed as they approached the gym, the sun beginning to descend below the edge of the roof. They reached the rear door after a few more moments.

Misty gripped the doorknob, hand trembling. Her stomach wouldn't stop squirming around. Rudy was probably still furious with her. She bit her lip. Did she really want to see him right now? They could do their best to avoid him, but the gym wasn't that large. They would probably run into him eventually. She let out a long exhale. She would have to face him eventually. It's not like she could avoid him all the way leading up to their wedding. That would be ridiculous.

She opened the door, and everyone followed her through the threshold. They had done a few renovations throughout the years. Ash barely recognized the interior. Instead of just a plain dance studio, they had expanded it to include a lobby, a few recreation and guest rooms for challengers, the studio and workout area, and a pool for Misty to train her Pokemon. The main arena for matches was still outside on the rocks like Ash would have remembered it.

They walked through the empty lobby quietly and entered the hallway. The door to the studio was open, music blaring from inside. She tiptoed past the opening and motioned for the others to do the same. They had snuck by without being noticed. They went further down the hallway until they reached a small room with a couch, television, and a small table with chairs.

The women sat down at the table while Ash and Brock plopped down on the couch. Pikachu joined them, nestling between the two of them. Brock found the remote and switched the television on. Ash was pleasantly surprised to see Professor Oak in front of him, discussing differences within the same species. For the first time in days, he felt himself being sucked into his first love of Pokemon…rather than some other thing.

Daisy had a few planning books with her. She had splayed them out in front of the other three as they began discussing the plans for the wedding—order of bridal party going down the aisle, seating arrangements, how they should set up the reception. Half-way through the program, Ash diverted his attention back over to the table. He focused on Misty, who had her face in her hands, appearing on the verge of a panic attack. He was about to ask if she was doing okay when they heard another voice come through the doorway.

"Misty?"

They all turned to see Rudy standing there, looking uneasy. He ran his hand through his auburn hair, throwing it out of place. Ash quickly shot a look at Misty. She had stood up, her hands still on the small oak table, fingers pressed gently up against the wood.

Pausing for a moment, she walked over to him. She couldn't quite read him-was he still angry with her? Sighing, she grabbed his hand and yanked him out into the hallway with her. Ash leaned over to the side, determined to catch every word.

"Misty, I'm sorry," Rudy said before Misty could utter a word, taking her aback. He never apologized first.

"No, I'm sorry," she said. "I should have told you that Ash was coming."

"It's fine," he said shaking his head. "I overreacted. Of course you can invite whomever you want. I was being stupid."

He stepped toward her, enveloping her in a hug. She returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around him, but for some reason, something felt missing. She couldn't quite place it, but something felt wrong about this-almost like his weren't the arms that were meant to be around her. She should have felt thrilled when he hugged, for that's what you are meant to feel when in love. However, for some reason, she felt none of that whenever he embraced her these days. She brushed it off quickly, attributing it to some case of cold feet. It would go away in time, and she would end up blissfully married-or so she hoped.

"I got to get back to training."

"Lucky you," Misty commented. "We're going over seating charts. Care to trade?"

"Not on your life."

He planted a kiss on her forehead before heading back down the opposite end of the hall. Misty sighed before reentering the room. At least that had gone better than she expected, which would have been a screaming match.

She went to join her sisters back at the table, but stopped when she noticed Ash staring at her again. She felt her cheeks begin to flush. He needed to stop doing that.

"What?" she asked, looking back at him.

"Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," she said with a forced smile.

She rejoined her sister, sitting down. The seating chart was displayed in front of her. She saw that they had managed to squeeze Ash in at Brock's table by moving one of the prettiest of her island girlfriends over to the table with the gym staff. Brock was going to be terribly disappointed. Such a shame.

He continued to watch her, trying to decipher her mood. It was hard to tell either way. Misty may forgive Rudy so easily, but Ash couldn't. Being around the guy for more than a few minutes made Ash want to punch him in the face for some reason. There was something off about him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Though there was the history there. Misty didn't know about it, as far as Ash knew. He could tell her, of course, but he felt it wasn't his place. He wasn't one to get involved with her relationship, as much as he wanted to. He always strived to do the right thing—he wasn't about to ruin Misty's happiness, even if he did suspect that he was starting to harbor deep feelings for her.

Sensing his eyes were still on her, Misty glanced up from her seating chart. He quickly diverted his attention back to the television. No one else seemed to notice. Maybe she was just imagining it. Was she going crazy? Was this all in her head? She stared back down at her seating chart. She must have been imagining it, she told herself. Why would he be looking at her like that anyway?

Later that night, Ash found himself in a similar room in the upstairs of the gym. This one, however, had a couple of cots. Misty had explained that it was meant for challengers to stay, but was very rarely used. It may not have been much, but lying on that cot felt amazing for his tired joints. They must have traversed at least ten miles that day. Misty and her sisters were insane.

Ash flipped on his side, head resting in his palm, elbow digging into the cot. He glanced over at Brock who was unfolding his blanket and draping it over his own cot. He had been staying at Misty's house in one of the guest rooms, but with all of her sisters there, it was now best to stay at the gym. Ash was a bit thankful. It was nice to have some company.

Ash was finally able to do what he had been dying to do all day—talk to Brock about the current situation. It hadn't been for long before Ash launched into the story of Misty's drunken invitation and how he took her up on the offer. He also told him about what had happened when he first arrived that morning. Brock took a long pause before responding.

"So that's why you came," he said. "And here I thought that you came to prevent her wedding from even happening."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're in love with her," Brock replied, deadpan.

Ash turned scarlet. "W-what? Why would you say that?"

"Because you are."

"No I'm not—"

"Oh come on, Ash," Brock said. "Think about it."

Ash stared at him, incredulous. What was he going on about? How could he think that he was in love with Misty? It was preposterous. He might have been having weird, intangible feelings for her at the moment, but that didn't mean that he was in love with her. It was Misty! It wasn't as if he stayed up all night thinking about her and the fact that her happiness was most important to him—oh no. Crap. Brock was right. He was in love with her. How could he have not seen it before?

"Shit," he muttered. "I'm in love with her…"

"I don't understand why you are torturing yourself," Brock commented, shaking him from his thoughts. "If it were me, I wouldn't hang around."

"Yeah, well," Ash replied. "That's why you're you, and I'm me."

"A complete masochist."

"Huh?" Ash said, narrowing his eyes. "What's that?"

"Never mind," Brock muttered. "It's getting late. We better get some sleep. Got a busy day watching you pine over an almost-married woman ahead of me."

"Oh shut up," Ash said, suppressing a yawn. He flopped down on his side as Brock shut off the light. Pikachu remained asleep as he yanked the blanket over his shoulders. He curled up, pulling his knees up so his feet were no longer sticking out at the end. With no closer to a resolution than prior to talking to Brock, Ash let his body succumb to sleep.